Nail driving shield and set



1967 .1. KRUTTSCHNITT 3,338,279

NAIL DRIVING SHIELD AND SET Filed June 21., 1965 I Q r '1 23 Z 2 INVENTOR.

t/ZDHN KZUTTSGHNJTT.

3,333,279 Patented Aug. 29, 1967 NAIL DRIVING SHIELD AND SET John Kruttschnitt, 500 Palo Alto Ave., Palo Alto, Calif. 94301 Filed June 21, 1965, Ser. No. 465,492 3 Claims. (Cl. 14546) My present invention relates to carpentry and in particular to a shield for protecting woodwork and other surfaces against damage by a hand hammer in driving a nail.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple practical and inexpensive shield for use by a carpenter to protect a surface through which a conventional nail is to be driven.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel form of shield for protecting woodwork against the impact of a hammer in driving a nail by which a nail may be driven in two stages and finally set in a novel manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shield for protecting woodwork against the impact of a hammer in driving a nail toenail fashion through a surface to be protected.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part evident to those skilled in the art and in part pointed out hereinafter in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein there is shown by way of illustration and not of limitation a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing like numerals apply to like parts throughout the several views:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of my invention in its preferred form,

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1, looking in direction of arrows,

FIGURES 3 and 4 are fragmentary views illustrating how my shield is used in driving a conventional nail,

FIGURE 5 shows the use of the shield in driving a nail toenail fashion, and,

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the device shown in FIG- URE 1.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawing for a more detailed description of the invention. As shown in FIGURE 1, the numeral 10 designates the protective shield portion of my invention which is in the form of a disc, but it is to be understood that the outline of the shield may take any desired configuration. The disc 10 is formed of cast malleable or ductile iron so that it will not break upon being struck by a hammer and it has a central driven nail accommodating opening 11 with a counter sunk end 12 and it also has a smooth undersurface which will not damage the work to be protected when placed thereupon. At one side of the central opening 11, there is a second counter sunk opening 13 that is extended to the perimeter of the disc 10 where it terminates as an open radial slot 14. The purpose of this slot 14 is to be described hereinafter. The disc 10 is also shown as having a raised anvil portion 15 for receiving the impact of a hand hammer. Located diametrically opposite and in alignment with this anvil portion 15, the disc 10 has a thickened portion or boss 16 into which a steel pin or nail set 17 is driven with its end extended from the edge of the disc 10'.

In operation as during the driving of a conventional nail as shown in FIGURE 3, the shield or disc 10 will permit the driving of a nail through its central opening 11 and into the work to a point Where the head of the nail will be substantially flush with the upper surface of the shield. Following this operation, the shield 10 will be removed from the nail 19 and re-positioned thereover at a point ofi' center and substantially opposite the slot 14 thereof. Now by striking the shield with a hammer it will be seen that, as shown in FIGURE 4 of the drawing, the nail 19 can be driven completely into the work In FIGURE 5 of the drawing, the shield 10 is shown with its radially extending slot 14 disposed in a position to accommodate a nail 21 that is to be driven, toenail fashion, into two pieces of work 22 and 23.

In FIGURE 6 of the drawings, I have shown the shield or disc 10 with its anvil portion 15 and the nail set 17 as employed in the setting of a nail 21 in the piece of work 20.

While I have, for the sake of clearness and in order to disclose the invention so that the same can be readily understood, described and illustrated a specific device and arrangement, I desired to have it understood that this invention is not limited to the specific means disclosed, but may be embodied in other ways that will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art. It is believed that this invention is new and all such changes as come within the scope of the appended claims are to be considered as part of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A disc-like nail driving shield, having a flat undersurface adapted to be disposed over the work to be protected and having an opening through which a nail may be driven, said opening being large enough to accommodate the head of the nail when driven straight through the shield, said shield having a second opening extended as an open slot at the edge of said shield through which a nail may be driven toenail fashion, a nail setting member carried by and extending radially from one side of said shield, and an anvil portion at the diametrically opposite side of said shield adapted and arranged to be struck by a hammer, whereby a nail driven straight or at an angle to the under surface by said shield may be set by the impact of a hammer applied to the anvil portion of the shield.

2. A shield for protecting the surface of a material into which a nail is to be driven, comprising a flat circular plate having a smooth lower surface, said plate being large enough to receive misdirected blows of a hammer, said plate having a central nail accommodating opening slightly larger than the head of a nail through which the nail may be driven until its head is flush with the upper surface of the plate, a nail setting member carried by and extending radially in the plane parallel to the plane of said plate, and a thickened anvil forming portion upon said plate diametrically opposite and disposed in the same plane as said nail setting member, whereby the force of a hammer blow upon said anvil forming portion will be transmitted through said plate along the axis of said nail setting member.

3. A shield for protecting the material into which a nail is to be driven, comprising a flat circular plate having a smooth lower surface, said plate being large enough to receive the misdirected blows of a hammer, said plate having a countersunk hole slightly larger than the head of the nail throughwhich the nail may be driven until its head is lower than the upper surface of the shield, said fiat plate also having a second nail accommodating opening terminating as a slot extending into the edge of the plate through which a nail may be driven oblique to the lower surface of the shield and in alignment with said slot, a hardened steel pin carried by and extending radially in the plane parallel to the plane of said plate serving as a nail set, and an anvil portion carried by said plate diametrically opposite and disposed in the same plane as said nail set, whereby the force of a hammer blow upon said anvil portion will be transmitted through said plate and along the axis of said nail setting.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1919 Fiori 145-1 X 3/1959 Auchard 145-1 FOREIGN PATENTS 9/1960 Germany.

10 WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

R. V. PARKER, Assistant Examiner. 

2. A SHIELD FOR PROTECTING THE SURFACE OF A MATERIAL INTO WHICH A NAIL IS TO BE DRIVEN, COMPRISING A FLAT CIRCULAR PLATE HAVING A SMOOTH LOWER SURFACES, AND PLATE BEING LARGE ENOUGH TO RECEIVE MISDIRECTED BLOWS OF A HAMMER, SAID PLATE HAVING A CENTRAL NAIL ACCOMMODATING OPENING SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN THE HEAD OF A NAIL THROUGH WHICH THE NAIL MAY BE DRIVEN UNTIL ITS HEAD IS FLUSH WITH THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE PLATE, A NAIL SETTING MEMBER CARRIED BY AND EXTENDING RADIALLY IN THE PLANE PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF SAID PLATE, AND A THICKENED ANVIL FORMING PORTION UPON SAID PLATE DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE AND DISPOSED IN THE SAME PLANE AS SAID NAIL SETTING MEMBER, WHEREBY THE FORCE OF A HAMMER BLOW UPON SAID ANVIL FORMING PORTION WILL BE TRANSMITTED THROUGH SAID PLATE ALONG THE AXIS OF SAID NAIL SETTING MEMBER. 